So Many Secrets to Show
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: Thinking about her soulmate was the only distraction Jocelyn had allowed herself. Jocelyn/Maryse


**Notes: Written for the tmifemslash bingo, with Jocelyn/Maryse as a pairing and 'soulmates AU' as a prompt. Hope you like it!**

The sleeping quarters in the Shadowhunter Academy were amongst the top ten on the list of most disgusting things Jocelyn Fairchild had ever had to endure. She'd known, ever since the first day after coming here, that it wouldn't compare to the manor she'd lived in all her life, but she still hadn't thought that it'd come to _this_. The bed was hard and lumpy no matter what she did and that was far from the only problem. There was no way she could try and focus on the history of vampires while she could still see the disconcertingly large – and growing larger by the week – stain in the ceiling right above her pillow.

It wasn't like her to complain; not usually. She'd resigned herself to the tiny room and the horrible conditions years ago and even liked it sometimes – Maryse Trueblood, her roommate, made it bearable and they didn't spend enough time in it for the realisation of just how disgusting it was for the idea to really sink in. Usually, they were either in class or outside in the fields, whether because they had training classes or because they'd been given a few hours for themselves.

Once exams approached, however, things changed drastically.

Every inch of solid ground on the Academy's territory was covered by students of all ages, surrounded by text books or trying to memorise last minute strategies that might win them a few extra points during the physical part of the exam. Groups of three or four people tested each other – more loudly than was strictly necessary – over the finer details included in their history lessons and no matter where she went, she was faced with another of them and the only thing it served to do was make even more of a mess of whatever knowledge she _did_ have. Jocelyn had grown tired of it fairly quickly and had returned to the relative peace of her room, just to have Maryse burst in minutes later.

"I hate them," she announced to no one in particular and threw herself on her bed. Jocelyn peered at her curiously over her notes. Maryse's anger at a yet unidentified third party was preferable over reading about the ritual that had created the first vampires for the third time in the last hour.

"Who is it this time?" Maryse never really ran out of people to hate; not where the Clave was concerned. It had started after her brother Max had been stripped of his runes for marrying a mundane girl and it had yet to stop, but Jocelyn tried not to complain too much. It was a bigger tragedy than anyone could imagine; losing someone you love to the mundane world rather than to death. Sometimes Jocelyn thought that it must have been even harder – knowing that your own brother was somewhere out there, just out of reach, and that you weren't allowed to ever contact him again.

"Penhallow," Maryse said darkly, plopping down on her bed. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders in a long, shiny waterfall once she released it from her ponytail and Jocelyn found herself thinking about what tools she'd need to capture the exact colour of said hair as the sunlight fell over it through their small window. Maybe she really was overworking herself; she hadn't drawn anything in almost two weeks in an effort to stay focused and now even the slightest stimuli was a welcome distraction. "It's either too many runes or not enough runes with him. Last week he told me I wasn't protected enough and today he still complained when I was _covered_ in the stuff."

"So were they," Jocelyn said with a faint smile, lifting her arm to show the runes scattered all over her skin – runes she hadn't placed there herself.

That was the only distraction she'd allowed herself – thinking about the person who had covered himself dutifully in runes as their exams approached. It gave her a few hints as to who it could be – it had to be someone in their year, someone who preferred combat over strategy if the plethora of enhancement runes was anything to go by. Jocelyn tried not to imagine what they would look like – her mother had told her enough times that it was a wasted effort, because she'd probably always end up far from the truth – and instead, she thought how she'd start looking for them once she was sure she'd passed everything successfully.

Maryse stared at her for a second or two before narrowing her eyes. "How can you think about your soulmate when we're all going to fail?"

"We are _not_ going to fail," Jocelyn said, voice as resolute as she could manage. "If you calm down, you're going to do just fine."

Maryse seemed to consider that for a moment and then nodded, her expression brightening only slightly. "Maybe," she conceded. "I actually found a rune that can help you with concentration. Want to try it?"

Jocelyn nodded and Maryse pulled out her stele, baring her arm until she could reach some empty space. Jocelyn was so mesmerised by the elegant curves of the rune that she almost missed Maryse's accompanying wince, as if she was feeling the effect of the stele too.

Jocelyn's eyes drifted to the hand holding her still and then up Maryse's arm where slowly, tentatively, the already familiar rune started taking shape.

"Stop," Jocelyn commanded before she could think and Maryse eyed her carefully.

"I can't stop _now_ ," she said, unbothered, and swiftly finished the last line of the rune. "What is it?" she asked once she dropped her stele and Jocelyn felt herself freeze. There were no words she could find to explain this. She'd imagined it so many times over the years – how she'd do this, what she'd say if she was the one to find out first, and now, all of a sudden, she didn't know how to handle it. So, instead of saying anything, she placed her arm next to Maryse's, comparing the runes mirroring each other over their skin.

She saw the realisation reach Maryse's eyes and then watched as, shockingly, her lips curled into a smile. She threw her arms around Jocelyn and the hug was unexpected enough for Jocelyn to get lost in it for a moment. Maryse was _everywhere_ – her veil of dark hair was in her face and her hug was in her typical 'I don't know my own strength' manner and Jocelyn didn't even _care_.

"I take it you're not disappointed," Jocelyn said, laughter still in her voice when Maryse pulled away. Her expression was more open than she ever remembered seeing it and Jocelyn stood up and offered her her hand.

"Where are we going?" Maryse asked and Jocelyn couldn't help but notice that most of the tension she'd seen before had evaporated.

"Out," she announced. "We have a lot to talk about."

There would be time to panic about their exams and about the end of the year and everything else later; for now, they could afford to have this.


End file.
